Dear Friends,

 

I’ve always found that writing helps me make sense of the world, in the same way Esther took pictures to share her joy. But today I’m struggling to extract any sense from the chaos, or frankly to even see the keyboard through the bouts of tears.

 

But I also feel this is important to do today following on from some of the many messages we’ve received in the past few days.

 

In the days or weeks ahead, Esther will be returned to us. Years ago, we promised each other that on our 70th anniversary we’d walk hand in hand on the same beach we visited on our first anniversary. We’d eat chips, play in the arcade again, fail to win any cuddly toys, and reflect on all of our many adventures before, hopefully, slipping away together in time – still holding hands if we could.

 

In the end we only got 19 of those years. It’s more than a lot of people get with a soul mate, but (selfishly) it isn’t nearly enough. She’d already taught me so much about how to live, how to love and how to live a multicoloured life. That’s what she called our lifestyle, the beautiful, trusting, simple way that she used to squeeze in so much joy into every waking moment. I honestly believe our best years were yet to come. 

 

Knowing that Esther didn’t suffer, that she was doing what she loved and that our last words were “I love you” will (perhaps), one day give more comfort than I can find today. I also hope I can find a way forward that honours Esther’s spirit, though I haven’t a clue yet what that looks like.

 

Of course, Esther also had a backup plan – she always did. That’s why, when the time is right and after a very small family service, her ashes will be scattered in the places she loved the most. She’d have done the same for me – and we’d already agreed on those places. 

 

And that’s why I’m writing this.

 

Following suggestions from some of you, in lieu of flowers and cards etc., I’ve set up a fundraising page to raise money for a charity close to Esther’s heart – Sightsavers, who work to cure preventable blindness. 

 

Sharing the beauty of the world was another of Esther’s passions. It’s why she set up all of our social media in the first place and posted so many pictures. That anybody should be unable to see this amazing universe we inhabit, for entirely preventable reasons, hurt her deeply. 

 

I’ve set a target of £5000, just a few pounds more than Esther raised last year in her epic NHS bike challenge. I hope we can reach that goal.

 

At the same time, if you would like to, please leave a message on this fundraising page. If you want to share a personal memory, long or short, named or anonymous, if you would like to then just speak to Esther. 

 

My commitment is to read out each message to Esther when we do lay her to rest. I think she’d like that. 

 

And, if aren’t able to donate at the moment or would just prefer to send a message privately, please do so via the Facebook page or blog – and I’ll read those to Esther as well.

 

Thank you all.

 

p.s. Not sure when I’ll post again, but I will be leaving all of our pages online – they’re the second best testimonial to Esther that I can think of. The best is simply to live life bravely, and gently, and kindly, and to smile at strangers. Because that’s who my angel was.

Anonymous

Elaine Uthman

Sarah-Jane Raymond

Auntie Jose

Kim Knight

Ilse Stevens

Manizja Aziz

Ben Mabley

Caroline Furlong

Kelly Ash

Ed Spencer

Barry Evans

Katie Jones

Remembering Esther

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Eligible for Profile Comment Badge

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

isEligibleForProfileCommentBadge

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forRemembering Esther